Farmers have received over £1.7bn worth of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money in the first few days of the payment window opening, the RPA has announced.
Payments have been made to just over 97,500 claims totalling £1.72 billion, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed on Tuesday.
These cover the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) revenue and Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes.
The RPA said all eligible farmers should expect to receive their full payment within the payment window, which ends June 2022.
The agency added that farmers should ensure up-to-date bank account details on the Rural Payments service, as payments are made direct via BACS transfer.
Claimants have also been reminded to be aware of fraud, and to never disclose personal information to anyone.
RPA chief executive, Paul Caldwell said: “We understand that it has been a challenging year for rural communities, which is why we’re working hard to get payments made as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“We have already paid more than 97,500 claims, totalling £1.7bn, but we know there is more to do and we understand the importance of these payments to the rural economy.”
It comes as these payments will gradually be reduced over a seven year period starting from this BPS year, with the biggest reductions initially made to the higher payment bands.
The money will be repurposed for schemes which incentivise sustainable farming, rewarding farmers for actions such as improving air and water quality.
